Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Jul 18, 2017

Review: Trust by Kylie Scott

Title: Trust
Author: Kylie Scott
Series: N/A
Purchase: Amazon

Summary (from Goodreads):
After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.

While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.

An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.

Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.

Review:
Ask my friends – leading up to ApollyCon 2017, the author I was most excited to meet was Kylie Scott. Not just because she seems like a cool chick, but her writing is everything. She seamlessly blends humor with heat, snarky with sexy. She’s hands down one of my favorite authors, and when I found out she was foraying into the Young Adult world with TRUST, I was all over this.

What I loved most was that Edie and John are hopelessly flawed. It’s not a pretty love story with a meet cute and a little teasing before they fall in love. Their first meeting involves a hostage situation and a tweaked out robber with a trigger happy finger. It’s tense and heartbreaking and vicious.

Edie is a heroine I wished I could have had read about growing up. Edie is me (minus the hostage situation and super hot bad boy savior). Edie is overweight, fluent in snark and sarcasm, and much better at faking who she wants people to think she is than actually being herself. She’s not Katniss, hurling herself in front of a firing squad to protect people or Tris trying to take down an evil empire or even Bella, stupidly bumbling her way through a world she doesn’t understand. She’s Edie and Edie is imperfect and a little broken but with a mountain of heart. In short, she’s most of us.

I absolutely adore Kylie Scott and she did not disappoint me at all with TRUST. So give it a chance. Trust me. 😉


Jun 21, 2017

Review: The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

Title: The Hook Up
Author: Kristen Callihan
Publication Date: 1/16/2015
Series: Game On #1
Source: ebook
Purchase: Amazon

Summary (from Goodreads):
The rules: no kissing on the mouth, no staying the night, no telling anyone, and above all… No falling in love.

Anna Jones just wants to finish college and figure out her life. Falling for star quarterback Drew Baylor is certainly not on her to do list. Confident and charming, he lives in the limelight and is way too gorgeous for his own good. If only she could ignore his heated stares and stop thinking about doing hot and dirty things with him. Easy right?

Too bad he’s committed to making her break every rule…

Football has been good to Drew. It’s given him recognition, two National Championships, and the Heisman. But what he really craves is sexy yet prickly Anna Jones. Her cutting humor and blatant disregard for his fame turns him on like nothing else. But there’s one problem: she's shut him down. Completely.

That is until a chance encounter leads to the hottest sex of their lives, along with the possibility of something great. Unfortunately, Anna wants it to remain a hook up. Now it’s up to Drew to tempt her with more: more sex, more satisfaction, more time with him. Until she’s truly hooked. It's a good thing Drew knows all about winning.

All’s fair in love and football…Game on.

Review:
You know that magic moment when you find a new book you just immediately love and you know in your heart of hearts that the author is your kind of people? That’s how I felt 2 chapters into THE HOOK UP by Kristen Callihan.

In my quest to read more ApollyCon authors, I decided to give Callihan’s New Adult series a go. I mean, football players? Pretty much a no brainer, but I never expected to fall head over heels in love with Drew and Anna.

These two have the most electric chemistry. Chemistry that had me blushing and furiously texting my blogging besties Krista and Val, demanding they read this book. Before I finished THE HOOK UP, I had them buying the whole series in paperback. It’s that stinking good.

Callihan has this awesome way of writing riveting characters with heart and charm, infusing angst and humor with astonishing ease. Kristen Callihan is going down as one of my auto-buy authors for life.


Now hopefully I can meet her at ApollyCon without completely freaking out.


Mar 31, 2017

Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer



Review:
I've been a fan (both personally and professionally) of Brigid Kemmerer's for years. I've long considered her one of those authors who I cannot figure out why the world hasn't caught on to the magic of her awesome. But I feel like LETTERS TO THE LOST is about to change that.

At least I can say I knew Brigid way back when.

LTTL is a heartbreaking tale of grief and hope. It's a rare book that can make me cry, but this one did. Multiple times. Brigid has this ... visceral way of connecting the character to the reader that leaves a lingering, haunting bond long after the last page is turned.

Maybe this is your first Brigid book (if so, you need to read The Elementals series NOW). Maybe you've been a fan since the beginning. Either way, it's safe to say that Brigid Kemmerer just upped the bar for all YA contemporary novels.

ABOUT LETTERS TO THE LOST:
Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.


LINKS: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound


ABOUT BRIGID KEMMERER:
BRIGID KEMMERER is author of LETTERS TO THE LOST (Bloomsbury; April 4, 2017), a dark, contemporary Young Adult romance; THICKER THAN WATER (Kensington, December 29, 2015), a New Adult paranormal mystery with elements of romance; and the YALSA-nominated Elemental series of five Young Adult novels and three e-novellas which Kirkus Reviews calls “refreshingly human paranormal romance” and School Library Journal describes as “a new take on the supernatural genre.” She lives in the Baltimore area with her husband and four sons.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Instagram

Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:

Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of LETTERS TO THE LOST (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Feb 20, 2017

Review: The Blue Moon Narthex by N.J. Donner


Review:
Fun, original, and exciting, THE BLUE MOON NARTHEX is a book I have been waiting for. N.J. Donner absolutely knocks it out of the park with this one.

There is a depressing shortage of upper MG/lower YA books with male protagonists. With the exceptions of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, books aimed at adolescent males seem in short supply these days, which makes me so happy that Donner has stepped in to fill that void with Cole McCarthy.

Cole is witty, energetic, and smart as he unravels the mystery of his father. Blending action with humor and a fast moving plot that kept my attention, Donner has put himself on the map. I can't recommend this book hard enough to those looking for the void Harry and Percy left behind. 

Rating: 


ABOUT BLUE MOON NARTHEX:
The balance of good and evil has been left in the hands of a thirteen year old...

Since the beginning of time, Karmanic matter worked silently and unassisted keeping good and evil in balance, until growing greed in the world meant Karma couldn’t keep up. As World War I rages, the secret Karmanic Sovereign Legion works behind the scenes to help Karma.

A suspicious train accident and an odd stone-shaped object that belonged to his father thrust Cole McCarthy and two schoolmates into the middle of this battle to keep dark forces in check. 

With only the powerful stone, a letter, and grandfatherly Norm to guide them, the trio must unravel clues and tap into unknown strengths to discover who Cole’s father really was and keep themselves and those they love safe.

Includes chapter 1 of book 2 in the Karmanic Sovereign Legion series!


LINKS: Amazon | B&N


ABOUT N.J. DONNER:
N.J. Donner is the author of the new Karmanic Sovereign Legion books. N.J. loves to explore. The world fascinates him and he wants to figure out why and how things work, including Karma.

College adventures took N.J. far from his small Nebraska hometown to the southern hemisphere and the inner city. This was the beginning of his wanderlust and today he loves to travel with his wife, Amanda, and their three children.

N.J. became the first person to graduate with a minor in international affairs from Nebraska Wesleyan University and spent the years right out of college building a successful steel company.




Tour Schedule:
Week 1:
Week 2:
Week 3:


Giveaway:
Blue Moon Narthex Swag Box (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Feb 13, 2017

Review: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones


Review:
Let's get this out of the way: WINTERSONG had me at Labyrinth. I'm a hue fan of the movie, have watched it countless times, and still quote it regularly. So a book about goblins and a goblin king (y'all know I pictured Jareth, AKA David Bowie the entire time), had me utterly intrigued, and I'm happy to say S. Jae-Jones didn't disappoint me.
Where Labyrinth always left me leaving more what the romance. What WINTERSONG gave me? THE ROMANCE.
*swoons*
Following Liesl down the rabbit hole as she tries to save her sister, Kathe, when Kathe is kidnapped. Now I gotta say, Liesl is a better girl than I am because I was content to let Kathe rot in the Underground (she's annoyingly selfish and vain). But Liesl saves her sister, by offering up herself, and thus becomes 'trapped' in the Goblin King's world where she absolutely flourishes.
I will admit that the beginning of the story was a bit sluggish, but something about S. Jae-Jones' writing and way with words kept me going, and I am so glad I did. This story is completely original and absolutely beautiful.

ABOUT WINTERSONG:
Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.



LINKS: Amazon | B&N


ABOUT S. JAE-JONES:
S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the author of Wintersong, forthcoming from Thomas Dunne in February 2017.

Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, she lived in New York City for ten years before relocating down to Dixie, where she is comfortably growing fat on grits and barbecue. When not writing, she can be found rock-climbing, skydiving, taking photographs, drawing pictures, and dragging her dog on ridiculously long hikes.




Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:


Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of WINTERSONG (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jan 2, 2017

Review: Aftermath by Clara Kensie


Review:
Oh, Clara Kensie, the way you break my heart. AFTERMATH is an unflinching look into the worst nightmare of every family. Brilliantly written, Kensie has written a story that is one heck of an emotional roller coaster that left me thankful I got on the ride.

Watching the evolution of Charlotte as a character was amazing. From beginning to end, her growth and depth never ceased to amaze me. What this girl endures is unthinkable, but she's a survivor. Her moxy and courage are the driving force behind this book. I vacillated between standing up to cheer her on and wanting to just hug her and protect her myself.

I think what drew me most to this story is the way Kensie doesn't balk at talking about something as dark as child abduction. While she definitely doesn't glamorize or go into gory details, you know the heartache Charlotte and her family have endured. Not only does Kensie nail the emotions of a devastated family, but she also managed to infuse moments of humor to lighten some of the tension.

Overall, this is an emotionally draining but overwhelmingly satisfying book to read. Kensie is a wonderful writer that I've loved for years, and this book just further cemented that feeling.




ABOUT AFTERMATH:
Charlotte survived four long years as a prisoner in the attic of her kidnapper, sustained only by dreams of her loving family. The chance to escape suddenly arrives, and Charlotte fights her way to freedom. But an answered prayer turns into heartbreak. Losing her has torn her family apart. Her parents have divorced: Dad's a glutton for fame, Mom drinks too much, and Charlotte's twin is a zoned-out druggie. Her father wants Charlotte write a book and go on a lecture tour, and her mom wants to keep her safe, a virtual prisoner in her own home. But Charlotte is obsessed with the other girl who was kidnapped, who never got a second chance at life--the girl who nobody but Charlotte believes really existed. Until she can get justice for that girl, even if she has to do it on her own, whatever the danger, Charlotte will never be free.


ABOUT CLARA KENSIE:

Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.

Today Clara is a RITA© Award-winning author of dark fiction for young adults. Her super-romantic psychic thriller series, Run To You, was named an RT Magazine Editors Pick for Best Books of 2014, and Run to You Book One: Deception So Deadly, is the winner of the prestigious 2015 RITA© Award for Best First Book.

Clara’s latest release is Aftermath, a dark, ripped-from-the-headlines YA contemporary in the tradition of Room and The Lovely BonesAftermath is on Goodreads’ list of Most Popular Books Published in November 2016, and Young Adult Books Central declared it a Top Ten Book of 2016.

Clara’s favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.

Find Clara online:

Tour Schedule:


Giveaway:
1: A "Do It Double" Aftermath tote bag from Blu Bear Bazaar. Inspired by Aftermath's message to "Do it double, because some can't do it at all," Blu Bear Bazaar designed beautiful artwork for it and printed it on tote bags and throw pillows. Blu Bear Bazaar is generously donating a portion of all Aftermath product proceeds to RAINN and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Click here for more information.

2: Choice of TWO books from Clara's collection of YA novels. Clara will give the winner a list of the YA novels in her collection, and the winner can pick two. Some of the books are signed by the author.

*US/CAN for the above prizes. If the winner is international, the prize will be substituted by a book from Book Depository up to $18.00, winner's choice.

Good luck, and happy reading!!!

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